Another skid plate option (aluminum), less than 200 USD.

[olie]

...just bought one yesterday for less than $200... ~ $170 delivered. ::022::

 

[EricV]

Re: Finally, another skid plate option aluminum and/or carbon fiber.

Some more photos. Your feedback would be appreciated. I would like to see some more protection for the pipes, O2 sensor, and the kickstand switch.

First, full disclosure; I'm a vendor, I sell Rumbux crash bars/skid plates. I'm also a machinist with 25 years experience in all types of materials, most of my time in the hydraulic tool industry, making parts for, and testing breakers, tampers, drills, impact wrenches and shears. Some large enough to cut a rail car in half or demo a building. The sole reason I started importing Rumbux crashbars to the states is that I felt strongly that the skid plate must not be mounted to the cast aluminum oil sump/pan. I wanted something for my bike that would have the best chances of not stranding me in BFE if I screwed up and took a hard hit. No one plans to do that. But you can plan to be prepared for it.

Looks like .187 thickness material. I'm guessing 6061 or a variant. Nice welds. Nice anodizing job too. Not sure I'm sold on the multitude of welds, Vs some press brake action. I like the idea of the isolation mounts, but they are intended for vibration dampening, not impact absorption. I wonder about shear strength of them since the hits tend to come with forward motion. Sadly, the cast aluminum oil sump is a weakness, and will fracture under a hard hit, even through a skid plate, as we have seen already. Yes, I agree that there should be some more wrap around to protect the O2 sensor and other bits. For aggressive riders, the mounts are inadequate. There is some energy transfer with the tabs, but the weakness remains that it's mounted to the sump. ::007::

There has to be a decision - Remove for oil changes and give better protection, or leave on for oil changes and sacrifice some protection. The local South African riders were getting sticks jamed into the holes in the skid plate and causing damage in some cases. For this reason, there are no holes in the Rumbux skid plate. This requires removal to change the oil and filter, but the trade off is superior protection.

So, is this offering intended to save the oil sump, or just look like it will?

For riders that never bottom the forks and don't take the marginal roads/trails, this design with some wrap around protection for side items will do a great job of keeping things protected from sticks and minor tossed up/brushed against trail debris. It's easy to live with, allowing oil changes w/o removal and has some well thought out features, such as the recessed mounting bolts that won't catch on things and get beat up. It won't help protect the oil filter, from what I can see. That is an area of vulnerability for any bike. It will likely do an outstanding job of stone protection and offer some skid plate duty for sand and mud, river crossings with soft banks, etc. It won't take a hard hit from a rock, or a drop onto a stair step where the weight of the bike and rider are coming down on it, and conversely, the sump it's mounted to. That scenario would be BAD.

It could be a great general purpose unit, but it's not a trail rated item, so to speak. Nothing sump mounted is.

 

[gbergma1]

Well said EricV; I am in full agreement. I don't work for this company but had an opportunity to provide feedback. I have consolidated everyone's comments and concerns and passed them along to MOOSE. With my limited experience I think one could design a product that could retail around 250 that does most of the things that everyone is ask

To truly do this right we need to see what is strong enough and work backwards, for all of us it is pretty easy to armchair engineer these things. Now we'll sit back and wait for the 2nd go of it, same high quality, just a different approach.

I wish I had time to pursue some alternate materials. I huge metal plate would do the trick, but I think we can do better, looking to aerospace and automotive, possibly a combination of aluminum or Kevlar with an impact absorbing honeycomb structure: http://www.supracor.com/technology/ (if someone has time to get rich off this, send me one please), Supracor wouldn't be the vendor for this project, but the premise of their product is spot on.

 

[whisperquiet]

I owned a DRZ400S and one of the first items installed were aluminum form fitted case guards for the generator and clutch cover. Both covers were known to be very brittle (similar to what the S10 sump appears to be) and the covers helped absorb some of the shock if you dropped the bike. It would seem that a like product (.125 thick/attached with RTV or GE Silicone Seal) would work as a secondary backup to a skid plate.

The DRZ400S case guards are these http://www.happy-trail.com/DRZ-KLX/CFC-Offroad-Case-Guards.aspx and maybe one of the venders would be able to produce a form fittted sump guard for the S10. If nothing else, it would take a much bigger hit to break the sump case.

 

[Tremor38]

I'm kinda moving away from anything that mounts to the engine at any position or in any fashon. In a slightly different vein, I've seen UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) polymers used as ATV skid plates, with reportedly positive results and wonder why I havent seen them offered for bikes yet?

Also, the MXers are using ultra high strength injection molded platics as skid plates on MX and super cross bikes, which are contoured so they don't catch on things and seem to hold-up pretty well. Is the S10 too heavy to use something like that?

I'm not a machinist or an expertise in these materials in any way, but was wondering if some of the more knowledgable forum members might know the answers.

 

[stevepsd]

I'm kinda moving away from anything that mounts to the engine at any position or in any fashon. In a slightly different vein, I've seen UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) polymers used as ATV skid plates, with reportedly positive results and wonder why I havent seen them offered for bikes yet?

KTM sells them for their bikes, along with the traditional aluminum. I prefer aluminum.

 

[EricV]

I'm kinda moving away from anything that mounts to the engine at any position or in any fashon. In a slightly different vein, I've seen UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) polymers used as ATV skid plates, with reportedly positive results and wonder why I havent seen them offered for bikes yet?

Also, the MXers are using ultra high strength injection molded platics as skid plates on MX and super cross bikes, which are contoured so they don't catch on things and seem to hold-up pretty well. Is the S10 too heavy to use something like that?

I'm not a machinist or an expertise in these materials in any way, but was wondering if some of the more knowledgable forum members might know the answers.

UHMW is a pretty cool material. It's a long chain thermoplastic. That just means it's very strong, possibly the strongest polymer of it's type. Some self lubricating properties and fibrous as well as being very abrasion resistant, (simplification of the properties). It's used a lot in the boating world for wear plate type applications and I have seen a lot of use in the 4x4 applications as well, including skid plate type use.

It needs to be significantly thicker than the aluminum counterpart to hold up to the abuse. Its weaker around holes than aluminum also. This creates a problem when using it as a skid plate in that you need to avoid holes too close to the corners, ideally. The 4x4 guys tend to use 1/2" thick and a lot of mounting points. Works really well up front for a skid plate, as in sliding the bottom of your jeep or truck up on a mud embankment when there were ruts and the center hump was higher than you thought, (or the ruts deeper!).

It's not as susceptible to cracking as Delrin, (which has similar properties, but is not fibrous). For our application, it might work with a Rumbux style set up, but as with any skid plate, the mounting solutions present problems. It would still transmit force to the sump, but would perhaps flex more, which is great if there is room for it to flex w/o hitting the sump and there is the problem for us. To mount it with enough gap, you're going to lose some ground clearance. Even the Rumbux doesn't have much of a gap between the skid plate and the sump. You're relying on the lower crash bars to support the skid plate and prevent a hard hit from reaching the sump.

UHMW can be machined, drilled, etc. with ease. I don't think you can heat form it though. (I've never tried) Typically if you want a shaped piece, you mold it from powder to form the shape desired. That's a more expensive process that requires dedicated and fairly expensive equipment and molds.

 

[jajpko]

UHMW is a pretty cool material. It's a long chain thermoplastic. That just means it's very strong, possibly the strongest polymer of it's type. Some self lubricating properties and fibrous as well as being very abrasion resistant, (simplification of the properties). It's used a lot in the boating world for wear plate type applications and I have seen a lot of use in the 4x4 applications as well, including skid plate type use.

It needs to be significantly thicker than the aluminum counterpart to hold up to the abuse. Its weaker around holes than aluminum also. This creates a problem when using it as a skid plate in that you need to avoid holes too close to the corners, ideally. The 4x4 guys tend to use 1/2" thick and a lot of mounting points. Works really well up front for a skid plate, as in sliding the bottom of your jeep or truck up on a mud embankment when there were ruts and the center hump was higher than you thought, (or the ruts deeper!).

It's not as susceptible to cracking as Delrin, (which has similar properties, but is not fibrous). For our application, it might work with a Rumbux still set up, but as with any skid plate, the mounting solutions present problems. It would still transmit force to the sump, but would perhaps flex more, which is great if there is room for it to flex w/o hitting the sump and there is the problem for us. To mount it with enough gap, you're going to lose some ground clearance. Even the Rumbux doesn't have much of a gap between the skid plate and the sump. You're relying on the lower crash bars to support the skid plate and prevent a hard hit from reaching the sump.

UHMW can be machined, drilled, etc. with ease. I don't think you can heat form it though. (I've never tried) Typically if you want a shaped piece, you mold it from powder to form the shape desired. That's a more expensive process that requires dedicated and fairly expensive equipment and molds.

That does sound interesting.. I had thought of something between a skid plate and the engine. Something that would mold to the sump.
Maybe d30 armor, or something that would take the heat.

Maybe having a billet sump machined with a 3/8" thickness would be the best. If enough were made, the price may not be too bad.??

 

[EricV]

That does sound interesting.. I had thought of something between a skid plate and the engine. Something that would mold to the sump.
Maybe d30 armor, or something that would take the heat.

Maybe having a billet sump machined with a 3/8" thickness would be the best. If enough were made, the price may not be too bad.??

If I put something between the skid plate and the sump, I'd want it to compress and absorb shock.

If I could make a new oil pan/sump, it would be steel. Bends and dents instead of cracking! The S10 really should have had a steel oil pan/sump to begin with. It would just take a lot more abuse before stranding a rider. That said, it would be prohibitively expensive to offer an aftermarket one.

 

[Barnstromer]

Does anyone know if this is the same plate as the one sold by Ricochet?
I don’t need a bunch of protection, just looking for something to block the rocks from flipping up on gravel roads. I have the Sport Touring model of S-10. That means I’m to old to take it out and do to much off roading with it. I have a DRZ for that. Anyway, here is the link for the Ricochet one, http://www.utahsportcycle.com/store/page449.html
Looks the same to me

 

[gbergma1]

That's pretty interesting...looks exactly the same. Same manufacture with multiple brand names? Let me see if I can drum up an explanation.

 

[gbergma1]

Got an answer..."We get the skid plates from the same manufacturer. I’m working with the manufacturer to make a few changes and additions."-MR

Fingers crossed, hope the next version implements some of the great comments that were shared here.